Take a few deep breaths to center your heart and your mind as you prepare to meet with God.

Meditation

Psalm 147 says that God “heals the brokenhearted and bandages their wounds.” God is not impersonal when it comes to the hardship we experience in this life. Take a moment and think about how God’s heart is broken over people’s struggles.

Teaching

“Jesus went into the synagogue again and noticed a man with a deformed hand. Since it was the Sabbath, Jesus’ enemies watched him closely. If he healed the man’s hand, they planned to accuse him of working on the Sabbath. Jesus said to the man with the deformed hand, “Come and stand in front of everyone.” Then he turned to his critics and asked, “Does the law permit good deeds on the Sabbath, or is it a day for doing evil? Is this a day to save life or to destroy it?” But they wouldn’t answer him. He looked around at them angrily and was deeply saddened by their hard hearts. Then he said to the man, “Hold out your hand.” So the man held out his hand, and it was restored! At once the Pharisees went away and met with the supporters of Herod to plot how to kill Jesus.” (Mark 3:1-6)

This is another “sabbath” challenge that we see often in the Gospels. Here, a man with a “shriveled” hand happens to show up on a sabbath at the local synagogue along with Jesus and a group of Pharisees, some of which were “looking for a reason to accuse Jesus.” The word that sticks out to me is “shriveled.”  That word initially makes me think of the poor man’s hand hanging there limp, lifeless, and deformed - with all the juice of life dried up and gone. A useless hand and one that dominates, in a negative way, the life of this man.

But the man’s hand isn’t the only thing, or even the main thing, that is shriveled in this story. Even more shriveled is the Pharisees’ hearts which have long ago shriveled up. Their hearts are lifeless and utterly useless for the Kingdom.  Like the crippled man’s hand, the Pharisees’ hearts have dried up and are now hearts of stone, not flesh. Perhaps that is why Jesus is so angry because it appears He can heal the man’s shriveled hand, but not the shriveled hearts of the religious leaders.

Examination

Take a moment and ask God what your heart is hardened toward.

Knowing that God has the power to do something about it, ask God to soften your heart, allowing your heart to break for the same things that break His heart.

Memory Verse

Whether you need to write it down on a notecard, in an hourly reminder on your phone, or commit it to memory, find a way to take Mark 3:5 with you today, which says,

“He looked around at them angrily and was deeply saddened by their hard hearts.” (Mark 3:5a)